Chile Forum

Zenth, Jumbo, Unimarc & Lider sell Calico shopping bags (and the padded thermal ones for cold stuff). I can't remember the last time I took a plastic bag home with me... I think forum member Gloria also makes/sells reusable eco friendly shopping bags.

Tombi -- thank you for your insight!! I really appreciate it! Zenth -- it's so easy to be Vegan in Austin, esp. w/ Whole Foods, Sprouts, Natural Grocers, Sun Harvest, etc. I am very aware about all the plastic bags. I do remember living in Chile and we go back to visit every couple of years. I always take my cloth bags w/ me and always buy extra for friends and family as gifts. Zenth -- do you live in Austin? We have a great group of Chilenos en Austin that get together for el 18 de septiembre. Check out Chilenos en Austin on Facebook.

One example would be Elicina Snail Cream. Excellent product, look into it if you haven't heard about it

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if it comes from a snail, its not vegan!

I agree with Tombi and think that there is a growing market in the 'natural products/eco/green/sustainable living' sector. Just look at the number of eco/sustainable living type ferias that have been happening, like the recent Providencia one. And Ecoferia La Reina is packed on Saturdays!

As a label reading vegetarian, I think you will be fine being vegan here. Difficult areas will be the amount of sugar and milk powder in any pre packaged food items and the ol' favourite, stock cubes [i bring my own in from o/s and highly recommend you do too].
There are other stores with organic lines too, inc in Providencia El Arbol, Planta Maestra and Trigal del Sol and Tierra Viva in Nunoa. Tostadurias stock great dry goods and some have organic lines. Unfortunately, a lot of the packaged organic stuff coming in is from US so pricey, and with high food miles IMO. I have noted more organic stuff coming in from Brazil too inc soy milk and fair trade coffee.

good online references abound
http://www.happycow.net/south_america/chile/santiago/
http://ciudadanoresponsable.cl/
http://www.veoverde.com/

As for your idea to do cooking classes, I think this could be a good idea. Even from within my own contacts and friends, many have commented the same about my cooking, just because it is vegetarian. I don't think you'd have to especially go to Vitacura to make it work tho'.....

I know lots of vegetarians in Chile not many vegans, I would think with the wealth of fruit and veggies and a little fore thought you won’t have any problems. In Vancouver here I know several vegans who cook/prepare food maybe 1-2 times a week, they have lots of choices in restaurants. In Chile you will not have allot of choices to eat out but there are some good places as noted above.
The younger professional crowd has moved away from traditional Chilean foods and lifestyle. There is a growing market for everything green, but note they will not pay some of the super premium rates for products that North Americans will pay. I am an omnivore slanted to fish but need a steak once in a while. But I am passionate about alternative energy and proper design in building.

Mandita and NW Diver -- thank you so much for the info. I really don't think it'll be too difficult to be vegan in Chile since I can always rely upon rice, beans and some greens if I can't make my specialties. I'm so glad to hear that Chileans are starting to embrace a "greener" lifestyle. In fact, my sister in law bought a bicycle awhile back and that is her main mode of transportation in Stgo.! I'm so excited to hear that they also have Eco Ferias. I look forward to checking them out once we are in Chile!

Oh that reminded me! In Providencia there are bike stands where you can pick up a bicycle (I'm almost certain it's free) and drop it off at another location. Also Benneton had a bicycle thing going for a while, where you can pick up a bike and drop at another branch, also free.

ILOVECHILE had an article today about recycling - http://www.ilovechile.cl/2011/05/24/rec ... hile/21955

Hare Krishnas would be your best clientele for any vegan food product. Just yesterday my daughter and I purchased vegan tacos sold on a steet corner in La Serena (two for 1000 pesos or one for 700 pesos chilenos) sold by two Krishna ladies. My daughter is an ovolacto veggie-head and we can recall many funny anecdotes of trying to find a decent meal for her when we are dining out. First of all, ham is considered vegetarian here by some; she ordered an ensalada surtida (no muy surtida, unfortunately) and it was sprinkled with ham. Most people in general do not understand that every bit of food product has protien, including vegetables. However salads are not very conforting during cold months. Finding dehydrated soy protien is easily found in almost all grocery stores throughout Chile. Gluten can easily be made at home, with flour. Tofu is found in Santiago and sold in styrofoam trays covered in platic wrap. Also tofu can be made at home (although we gave up as it never tasted right nor did it have the right texture). Here, we have an Asian restaurant owner friend who has made it for us. I personally think that your idea dealing with nutrition is great but it should be marketed throughout Chile. Just think, now, seeds in seed banks are patented, which means that GMOs are going strong in this country. Planting a tomato seed is not like it used to be. In terms of cleaning products, most empleadas domesticas and mujeres de hogar still use bleach and some nasty smelling paraphin stuff to polish wood and floors. Maybe your clientele would mostly be found in this forum and health conscious Chilenos, but your ideas will work best if they come the heart.

Organic produce is found readily if you know local farmers from whom to get them. A personal friend of mine turns every organic matter into compost. If you want a lucritive business, maybe you could sell black gold. It is is organic matter that has been decomposed and recycled as a fertilizer and soil amendment. In the country (en el campo) people even turn papertowels into "tierra hoja"-compost.

In terms of schooling for your child, you can enroll her with a Certificado de Matricula Provisoria until you get all legal documents "convalidado". The most expensive private school in La Serena is about $300,000 pesos chilenos monthly, and you pay all 12 months. Educational quality is paramount when finding a school. I looked at SIMSE (national standardized test) to determine which school would be best for my child. There are many aspects to consider when finding a school that is right for your needs, don't forget to ponder class size, socioeconomic values, religious indocrtination, definition of qualitiy, and number of master teachers in the school, to mention some.

Sol y Luna wrote:...Here, we have an Asian restaurant owner friend who has made it for us.

@Sol y Luna...Would you mind PMing me to share the restaurant from which you get tofu? Very interested indeed. If anything, I'd like to eat at a trusted Asian restaurant. I've been reluctant to pick one without prior insight.

Sol y Luna wrote: I looked at SIMSE (national standardized test) to determine which school would be best for my child. .

SIMCE. Sistema de Medición de Calidad de la Educación.

http://www.simce.cl/index.php?id=288

To continue what appears to be a time-honoured tradition of hijacking forum threads, I'd like to add my 2c worth to the mention of SIMCE.

My partners daughter was to do the SIMCE tests earlier this week. Being kind, I'd describe her current maths skills are not very good. Her college decided that, in order for her probable low result from the test not to dilute the college average, she would be sent home from college for the morning of the test. She was not the only person that was sent home. Four other bottom-end maths students were "absent". I understand that this practice is not uncommon in other colleges (not only here in the north).

ryanar wrote:... her probable low result from the test not to dilute the college average, she would be sent home ...

Bienvenidos al verdadero Chile.

Sol y Luna -- thank you so much for the information! I really appreciate it! My SIL in Santiago makes awesome jewelry and sells at some shows. She said that another group of people were selling their all natural beauty/body products and they were selling like hotcakes! Although, it sounds like they were selling them pretty cheaply also, which makes me wonder how truly "natural" they were. Anyway, I really appreciate your advice and thoughts on the subject. We are tentatively planning to move to Stgo. in March. Food trailers are a HUGE thing here in Austin so I'm wondering how well accepted they are in Chile. It seems like a great way to get a great product out there w/o having large overhead costs.

Anyway, thank you so much for the advice!

T